Donations to Hyde-Smith spur calls for boycott of a baseball team

Jazz ShawPosted at 12:31 pm on November 27, 2018

Could the biggest loser in the Cindy Hyde-Smith versus Mike Espy race tonight wind up being… the San Francisco Giants? This oddball story coming out of the Mississippi Senate race was just weird enough to tempt me to click on it. And when I did, the results were just as disappointing as you’d imagine. It turns out that Charles Johnson, part owner of the Giants, donated to Hyde-Smith’s campaign this year. As a result, the natives are up in arms and want to see the team boycotted.

A Bay Area civil rights attorney is calling for a boycott of the San Francisco Giants after their principal owner Charles Johnson made donations to the campaign of a controversial U.S. Senate candidate in Mississippi…

Johnson, who lives in Florida, had previously apologized a few months ago after supporting a Republican Super PAC which was proven to be making racist radio ads. At the time, Johnson said he didn’t realize that’s what the group was doing. John Burris, a civil rights attorney, says he is a huge fan, but that it’s time for Giants fans to withdraw their support for the Johnson and team amid the controversy.

“I would encourage everyone who has social conscience about the condition that exists in this country to boycott the Giants as long as this person is a principal owner,” said Burris.

The Giants released a statement yesterday which says very little, other than the fact that Johnson made a donation using his own money and there’s nothing the team could do about it even if they wanted to.

So a civil rights attorney in San Francisco is demanding a boycott of the team (and refusing to accept an apology from Johnson even if he made one) over a political donation made by one of the team’s owners. Johnson, by the way, lives in Florida. All of this action is taking place well away from the actual location of the election in question and the people who will be represented by the winner.

What we’re seeing here are more stirrings of the beginning of the Boycotocracy. Burris is a guy living in San Francisco who is attempting to use the collective power of the progressive mob because he’s upset over something happening in Mississippi. And the threat in this case is against an entire baseball franchise over a donation they had no control over.

But that’s how things will operate under the Boycotocracy to come. All you need is a computer and access to social media, combined with a good enough hook to stir up the masses and you’ve got yourself a virtual cannon to inflict damage far and wide, regardless of the collateral losses. Given the love Americans generally express for baseball and the popularity of the Giants in the Bay area, this boycott probably won’t be gaining much traction from the people who count the most. (That would be the ones buying tickets to the games, merch, and tuning in to keep their ratings up.) But the principle still stands.

Let’s wait and see how much muscle Burris can muster here. If this effort actually takes off, it’s a dire warning of things to come, and it’s all being powered by social media. Maybe that massive EMP attack scenario might have at least a bit of a silver lining after all.